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Gov. Eliot Spitzer spent much of the afternoon kibbitzing with members of the Legislature, underscoring, perhaps, that he doesn’t really hold them in as low esteem as his recent speeches have indicated and is ready to work with them if they’re willing to do the same.

He met for about an hour behind closed doors members of the Republican Senate majority conference and then held a brief joint press availability with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick.

Spitzer then made an appearance – but did not speak – in the Assembly chamber, where he stood on the rostrum with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, shook his hand and then departed, taking questions from reporters as he walked down the Million Dollar staircase to his second floor office.

(A subsequent post on Spitzer’s new open-door policy with reporters is on its way).

Spitzer said he and the Republican senators had “a wonderful meeting.” Bruno called it “very productive.” Neither would offer much in the way of details, but said topics ranged from the upstate economy to the state’s fiscal condition to housing, energy and transporation.

They did not, however, discuss the political hot-button issue of redistricting, over which it has already become clear that Spitzer and Bruno disagree.

Sen. Kemp Hannon, a Long Island Republican, said the meeting was “novel” because members were encouraged to ask any question they wanted – even about things that were extremely parochial and pertained only to their own districts.

Hannon said he couldn’t recall former Gov. George Pataki ever having a similar meeting with the GOP conference. But, then again, he noted, Pataki had been a senator himself so “everyone knew him on a first-name basis.”

That didn’t help his relationship with the Legislature much in the long term, though.

Spitzer’sÂ entrance into the Assembly chamber produced audible gasps from some onlookers (not legislators)

Silver told Spitzer that he looks forward to working “in partnership with you to realize the vision of One New York that you so eloquently proposed in your State of the State,” adding: “We are ready to work with you.”

A member of Silver’s staff said she could not recall “the previous governor” ever having made a similar visit to the Assembly chamber other than to deliver the State of the State address.

Asked what he had hoped to accomplish by visiting the Assembly chamber, and paying homage to a body led by a man with whom many Capitol observers have postulated Spitzer is – and will continue to be – at odds, the governor replied:

“The speaker asked if I would appear before the Assembly on the first day ofÂ their new session as bothÂ a symbol ofÂ our desire and the reality that we will be working together, a show of support for them as a co-equal branch of government. I thought it was an appropriate and important thing to do. It was a kind offer which I enjoyed…and anything I had to say toÂ ’em I said last Wednesday. Â Â

I offered to repeat the whole speech,” he joked.

Spitzer was also asked whether legislators should be put off by his unstinting criticism, need for far-reching reform and opinion that one of their member should not be the state comptroller.

On that last issue, SpitzerÂ insisted he has never said outright that a member of the assembly would not make a good comptroller, but simply “that we need to look for certain standards and qualifications, and to begin with a question relating to qualifications rather than membership and then we go from there.”

AsÂ to whether legislators should be offended by his take-no-prisoners style, theÂ new governor had this to say:Â

“The way I have said it to members of both chambers is that all of us collectively, whether in the executive branch or the legislative branch, have a obligation right now to respond to what is a very clear sentiment on the part of the public that we have to do better,” Spitzer said.

“None of this should reflect individually or collectively of members of this body or this chamber. But there’s a a real sense that we have to pull ourselves up and do better, andÂ I expect that we will all do so.”Â

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